Judges 1, Adoni-bezek and Toes & Thumbs

Judges 1:1-10

Adoni-bezek, 70 kings and toes and thumbs
The interesting event with Adoni-Bezek a cruel king being repaid for his actions he took out against 70 neighboring kings, where he had cut off their big toes and thumbs and made to pick up scraps under his table.
It is interesting to note that though actively humans repay him he himself says, "Now God has paid me back for what I did to them(the seventy)". He attributes his loss to God's revenge.

But now to the nitty gritty.

The hands are only useful for work with thumbs. Without thumbs it is difficult to be productive.
Likewise without toes it is difficult to balance and walk around. Essentially one becomes crippled and highly dependent upon others and upon welfare.

This king, like many governing bodies before and since, had reduced others to a state of dependency. He had forced 70 other kings to scrounge for scraps under his table. His table which could've been a symbol of abundance and food is now the ceiling under which those dependents barely survive.

There is more to this as well, here comes Christ!
In Leviticus 8 and 14 the thumb and toe (and ear) were symbols to be consecrated to God. The high priest would place a bit of the ram's blood on each of those places.
In our own lives we need to ask that Christ cover our hearing, the work of our hands and wherever we go/walk in life.
The contrast shown here is huge, the difference between:
-one 'lord' and king who cuts off the means to productivity
vs
-the true Lord and King of Kings! who sacrifices his life for us so that we can draw near to God and be blessed in the work of our hands and wherever we go!

What about the name?
Adoni-Bezek means "my lord is Bezek" or "my lord is lightning". It is possible that there is idolatry here? and in keeping with the culture of Canaan i don't doubt it. But there is also more to this. Bezek is the town where Adoni-bezek resides. Is this nationalism of sorts? Upholding the town, the city, the place as the lord? Standard nationalist behaviour.

Interestingly, many years later it is at Bezek that Israel's first king Saul (though God strongly recommended against having a king....) coerces all the people of Israel to war. He literally says if you don't come and join i will make you like this cut up piece of oxen...(1 Samuel 11). How fitting that the symbol and place of a potentially idolatrous and tyrannical king becomes the place where yet again standard tyrannical behaviour is displayed.

As a Christian Anarchist I have only one Lord and he isnt really all human... That is Jesus Christ. He doesnt force me to follow him, he asks and as always i can leave if i want. But people generally don't try and leave those who love them, they run from tyrants not from friends and definitely not from real 'down-to-earth' saviours, scuse the pun :P
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Other points to note from start of chapter 1:

The Israelites continue to follow God's command of conquest. This is always hard for us to read and i agree it is difficult to read. Here are some quick thoughts on the matter:
-God had asked them to DRIVE them out.
-I have heard it was the standard practice to give the enemy the chance to leave before turning to war.
-from a Divine Command Theory perspective God has every right to issue such a command.
-if taking into account all knowledge and God's sovereignty. One could imagine a far worse world with far greater suffering had the conquest of Canaan not happened. As painful as it could be this could perhaps have been the best possible outcome given man's freewill.

However i didn't start this topic to defend the conquest of Canaan! And that is a side issue only set up at the beginning.
One thing to take note of are the numbers (of dead). As nearing the end of Judges i will provide a summary to compare the dead in Judges vs the dead of the kings both 400 years each.
It does not seem that the Israelites were commanded to repay this king with such treatment. Perhaps they were moved (and i disagree with their movement) as a result of his barbarity. This only shows the inhumanity of man to his fellow man.

It is interesting to note that decisions to act were between tribes, Judah talks to Simeon, they make a deal a contract as it were and follow through. They do not force each other into it (though one may assume that the people within the tribe may have been forced, but this is not explained). I still disagree with the concept of war as initiated by man.